[sugar] [PATCH] #447: grab/scroll key

[Gary C Martin]

On 13 Jul 2008, at 16:19, Eben Eliason wrote:

> On Sun, Jul 13, 2008 at 11:03 AM, Brian Jordan <brian at laptop.org>  
> wrote:
>> For all to consider: there are two grab buttons. What if one tended  
>> to
>> grab + move *objects*, and the other grabs + moves
>> *scenes/backgrounds*? From what I've heard, kids tend to have a hard
>> time left-clicking and dragging with their same hand (as with the
>> touchpad). So, for applications like Browse, both grab buttons could
>> still just scroll up/down. But for graphical editors (e.g., layout
>> programs, Physics, Model, anything with a scene and objects), this UI
>> behavior may be a real time saver and fun to use. This would require
>> giving applications the ability to process events from these two
>> scroll buttons in a way that identifies them separately.
>
> That's an interesting idea.  However, the reason there are two keys is
> so that interaction works well for both left- and right-handed users,
> without the need for them to cross their arms to scroll around.  What
> we might be able to do, though, is map an SHIFT-HAND shortcut to a
> drag/drop action instead. (I suggest shift because it's the only
> modified which is present on both sides of our keyboard, for the same
> reason as above.)

SHIFT-HAND would be a good direct alternative to the trackpad left  
button. It would then be useful in many existing places/activities for  
drag'n'drop operations while leaving the primary HAND use for  
scrolling. I'd probably use SHIFT-HAND instead of the trackpad button  
for clicking – it's already usually a two handed operation for me to  
avoid confusing the touch pad.

--Gary